Election of 1912
William H. Taft
Woodrow Wilson
Theodore Roosevelt
Eugene Debs
Nicholas Butler !
(James Sherman)
Thomas Marshall!
Hiram Johnson!
Emil Seidel
Republican Incumbent !
From Cincinnati, OH
Democrat !
From Staunton, VA!
!
Progressive Party
From New York, NY!
Socialist
From Terre Haute, IN
Lawyer and Jurist !
Political Scientist
Historian!
Indiana Senator
U.S. Solicitor General
President of Princeton
Spanish-American War
Union Leader
U.S. Court of Appeals
Governor of New Jersey Assistant Secretary of Navy Also ran in 1900, 1904,
Governor-General of Philippines!
!
!
Governor of New York
1908, and 1920
U.S. Secretary of War !
!
!
!
Vice President (6 Months in 1901)
Provisional Governor of Cuba!
!
!
President from 1901-1909
Chief Justice
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
Other opponents: Eugene Chafin (Prohibition Party) and Arthur Reimer (Social Labor Party)
Background:
• Republicans were in control of the presidency for 16 years prior to the election of 1912.
• Standard Oil company was declared an unreasonable monopoly by the Supreme Court and was
ordered to dissolve under the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1911.
Republicans:
• At the National Convention in June, Republicans re-nominated incumbent Taft.
• Roosevelt asked his supporters to leave, claiming that Taft had betrayed the progressive platform.
• This caused the party to split; Taft had the support of party leaders and Roosevelt had the support
of the people.
Democrats:
• House Speaker Champ Clark was largely supported for the Democrat nomination but could not get
a 2/3 vote
• Instead, William Jennings Bryan used his influence to support Wilson who was more moderate than
Clark.
Election of 1912
The Campaigns:
• The incumbent Taft was never really a contender and most public attention was spent on Roosevelt
and Wilson.
• New Nationalism: Roosevelt supported an interventionist government with large power to regulate
• New Freedom: Wilson advocated for antimonopoly policies and returns in favor of small businesses
The Issues:
• How to deal with trusts
• Wilson supported elimination of big, monopolistic businesses (called trusts)
• Roosevelt wanted to preserve trust but have power to regulate them
• Women’s suffrage
• Wilson believe this was a state’s issue
• Roosevelt openly campaigned in support of women’s suffrage
• Whether tariffs should be used to protect trade in the United States.
• Wilson criticized tariffs
• Roosevelt supported them
The Results:
• Wilson won the election in a landslide with 435
electoral votes and over 6 million popular.
• Roosevelt had 88 electoral votes but only lost to
Wilson by 2 million votes.
• Taft received 8 electoral votes with 3 and a half
million popular votes.
• Debs received just under 1 million.
The Effects:
• Wilson enacted the Federal Reserve Act in
December 1913
Blue: Wilson and Marshall
• This reformed the American financial and banking system
Yellow: Roosevelt and Johnson
• Created the Federal Trade Commission
Red: Taft and James Sherman
• Pushed the Clayton Antitrust Act through Congress
• Spent several years trying to keep America out of WWI
• Passed the 16th and 17th amendments, allowing a federal income
tax to be put in place and calling for a direct election of Senators.
• Allowed the introduction of segregation into several federal departments.
Interesting Facts:
• This was the last election in which a third party candidate beat one of the two major party
candidates.
• While accepting his nomination, Roosevelt told reporters that he felt as strong as a “bull moose,"
which lead to the party’s nickname, the Bull Moose Party.